Cautions against the immoderate use of snuff : founded on the known qualities of the tobacco plant : and the effects it must produce when this way taken into the body : and enforced by instances of persons who have perished miserably of diseases, occasioned, or rendered incurable by its use

CAUTIONS

Againft the immoderate Use of

SNUFF,

Founded on the known Qualities of the

TOBACCO PLANT;

And the Effedts it muft produce when this
Way taken into the Body :

AN D

Enforced by Inilatices of Peirfons who have
perifhed miferably of Difeafes, occafioned,
or rendered incurable by its Ufe.

By Dr. J. HILL.

THE SECOND EDITION.

LONDON:

Printed for R. Baldwin in Pater-nofter Row^
and J. Jackson in St. James's-ftteet.

MDCCLXI.
[Price One Shilling*]

CAUTIONS

AGAINST

S N U F F.

THE

INTRODUCTION.

QUE fingular inftances of*
XH^f^)^ mifchief, which I have feeri
S^^^^S the immoderate ufe of

k.)§C)5CM)§Cju( Snuff, have occafioned tHefe
cautions. I hope they may be ufeful to
fuch, as from an excefs in the fame
B pradicc

( 2 )

pradice, may be liable to like difor*
ders.

As nothing is fo ftrong as fa6t, I fhall
relate, in an exa6t manner, what acci-
dents, from this caufe, have come within
my knowledge: and, as my fingle voice
is too weak ; and the obfervations I have
had opportunities of making, are too li-
mited for the importance and extent of
the fubjeft, I fhall encreafe them by the
accounts of great and good authors : and
jflrengthen them by their authority.

The method in which this fubjedt may
be rendered moft obvious, and moft, af-
fecting to the Reader, I apprehend wiU
be this.

I.

To fhew what are the real qualities
of the herb Tobacco, from which SnufF is-
made.

II.

To examine what efFeds mufl na-
turally be expedted from an herb of thofe
tonalities taken up the noftrils.

III. To

( 3 )

nr.

To illuftrate reafon by experience;
and fhew what efFedts have followed it in
piany inftances.

CHAP. I.

Of the nature and qualities of the
Herb.

TOBACCO is a narcotic with ape*
culiar acrimony.

'Tis fuch a body as art might prepare
I by mixing Opium with Euphorbium.

The herb itfelf is fo nearly poifonous,
that no phyfician gives it inwardly.

When by accident it has been fwal-
lowed ; or from external ufe on a wound-
ed part*, has made its way into the body,
the firft effort is that of extreme irrita-
tion ; and after this come on the worfl
effeds of Opium, outrageous vorijitings

See page 6.

B 2 fincj

{ 4 )

and purgings ; and afterwards deep ilecp*
but not without convulfions.

We know how carefully we ought to
guard againfl Opium, which has not this
violent acrimony ^ how mucl) more ought
we then to fear a narcotic with fuch an
addition. '

A Recruit, who had been picked up
from the tail of a country w^aggon, and
was juft taught to drink drarns, ^nd
chew Tobacco, lay intoxicated, in fuch a
foUiii'Q, that his faliva, tindtured ftrong-
ly with the herb, ran fpr a long timg
down his throat. He was in the Savoy,
one of general Anflruthers men, of
whom I had the care.

He foon vomited, and fell into a purg^
ing ; difcharging both ways enormoufly^
and not without a tincflure of blood. Af-
ter an hour he fell into a deep fleep, but
was waked by ftrong convulllons : he
laughed immoderately ; and the next mo-
ment

inent cry'd : his fight was aimoft loft ^
and he knew nothing of where he was j
%ut feemed as one mad.

After feme time raving, he grew comr-
pofed. and flept again : but he breathed
difficuhly; his hps fwelled, his face
grew red and bloated, and his jaw hung
down he was covered with cold fweats ;
and often feemed dead, till a frefh ftrain-
ing to vomit brought him to himfelf
again.

Nature was ftrong in him, and he re-
covered : but he complained a long time
after of a fenfation like that of fire in his
ftomach, and had a hiccough, which no-
thing could appeafe,

A woman at Denham, a fervant of fir
Roger Hill, was advifed to thruft a piece
of Pigtail Tobacco up her noftril for a
giddinefs of the head. She went to bed
with it, and lay with her head off the
pillov/ : foon after midnight, fhe was
yj^aked with intolerable ficknefs ; (he vo-
mited

( 6 )

mited often and violently ; and fell into
dreadful hyfteric complaints. She lay as
dead a long time ; and, when a little re-
covered from this, became flupid and co-
matofe ; her pulfe v^as unequal, and her
mind afterwards difturbed. She recovered
by means of a profufe fweat, of a mofl: of-
fenfive fmell, like that of a corpfe j but
fhe had a trembling of her limbs a long
time afterwards.

A perfon had a contufed wound on the
thigh, attended with alarming fymptoms :
the furgeon, who had a high opinion of
the virtues of Tobacco externally, added a
powder of the leaves of that herb to the
dreffings. The patient was in a very little
time feized with outrageous vomitings,
which were very difficultly allayed. The
furgeon, not apprehending the Tobacco
to have been the caufe, repeated it in the
next dreffings j and the vomitings return^
ed with the fame alarming violence*.

* Ephein. Germ. 12. Obf. 108.

A

( 7 )

A perfon of one of the religious orders^
ventured to ufe Tobacco for relieving
people in the gout. He did not regularly
give it, but rolled up a piece in muflin ;
and directed the patient to put it in his
mouth, and hold his head down. This
drew a great quantity of rheum from
the mouth, and was not without its ef-
fed againfl the diforder : but it brought
on vertigoes*^

Thefe inftances may fhew, that To-
bacco is a powerful, but dangerous plant;
and that thofe fovereigns had reafon who
prohibited the ufe of it in their domi-
nions -f,

'Tis not eafy to fay what drug we ought
more reafonably to fear than an acrimo-
nious narcotic^ It flaould feem by the
fymptoms, that the worft of our vege-
table poifons are nearly of that cha-
rafter.

* Terr. Not. in Hernandez,
t The Turks and RulTians.

C H A P.

( 8 1

CHAP. 11.

Of the effeds which are naturall/
to be expeded from taking the-
powder of fuch a plant up the
noftrilsi

TH E dry'd leaves of Tobacco,-
ground, ra/ped, beaten, or other-
wife reduced to powder, make whaf we
call SnufF.

To judge of the effects this powder
may produce on being taken into the no-
ftrils, we fhould acquaint ourfelves with
the jftrudlure of all the parts which it may
reach. This ought to have been a conli-i
deration prior to the firft ufe of the herb
in that manner ; and we may venture to
affirm, that, if it bad been fo confider-
ed, this method of taking it would never
have been introduced.-

There

• ( 9 )

There is no part of the human frame
fnore dehcately fenfible than the noftrils ;
they are covered, in a manner, with
branches of nerves ; and thefe fo thinly
guarded from the air, that the brain it-
felf may be faid to He almoil: naked there.
Tliis conflfudlion was necefTary for the
dehcate fenfe of fmelHng ; and the pro-
vifion made for it is, Hke all other parti-
culars of the human compofition, won-
derful.

The nerves are cafily irritated, and ea-
fily deftroyed. Nature is always on her
guard again jfl the injury, and will ufe ef-
forts in this cafe, violent, and even con-
vulfive, to preferve herfelf: but induf-
trious man may overcome them all.
Hencci when Snuff is taken, by a perfon
unaccuflomed to it, the irritation is ex-
tream j and then follows fneezing : this
is the effort Nature ufes to throw off the
offending matter ; and it fucc'eeds. The
acrimonious powder is received no farther
than into the open noffril : it is thence
C thrown

( 10 ) .

thrown out immediately by the fhock
and a plentiful difcharge of a watery fluid
following, waflies away every remain of it.
In this cafe therefore the SnujfF ads by its
acrimony only : there is not time for it
to exert thofe other qualities which it pof-
feffes in fo ftrong a degree.

This is the e£Fe6t on a perfon wholly
iinufed to Snuff. But cuflom gets the bet-
ter of Nature's abhorrence to that pow-
der. To work this effe(5t in a due degree,
the nerves of the noftrils mufl be in a per-
fed: ftate 5 but acrimonious fubftances
which firft irritate thofe tender organs,
afterwards deftroy them : for this reafon-,
perfons accuflomed to Snuff, no longer
fneeze on taking it. The powder, which
was at firft thrown off fo violently, is
permitted to lodge, and to exert all its
force. The Nerves are thus corroded
and deftroyed, and the fenfe of fmelling
is impaired ; and, in the end, totally
loll.

( " ).

But this is not all ; Nature, who an-
fwers many purpofes, by one and the
fame way, intended this delicate fenfa-
tion of the noilrils, not only for the agree-
able and ufeful fenfe of fmelling, but for
the defence alfo and guard of that palTage
to the throat.

The noftrils open into the mouth, and
are a fecond pafTage to the throat. The
mouth we can flnit at pleafure; but thefe
other inlets are always open ; and without
fome peculiar guard, many fubflances
improper to be fwallowed, would get
this way down by accident ; befide this
powder which we force in by art.

To guard againfi: all this, Nature
has given firft a kind of external de-
fence,in thofe Ihort hairs which grow near
the openings of the noftrils ; and to men
a much greater, which cuftotn with us
fakes away, that is the part of our beard
C 2 which

( 12 )

which grows on the upper lip. OfFen*
five fubftances might be, in a great mea-
fure, kept out by thefe : but, if they find
admittance, the next provifion againft our
fufFering by them, is that deUcate fenfibi-
lity in the nervous lining of the noftrils,
which, on the firft touch of any thing
acrid, urges fneezing to throw it ofF.

Thefe are provifions of Nature againfl
the accidental fwallowing of acrimo-
nious things i but we induftrioully fub-
vert the very purpofes of thefe in our
method of taking SnufF. A few fcatter-
ed hairs are no defence againfl what we
apply with a broad thumb to the very
opening of the noflril, and draw up with
the force of ail our breath : we thus com-
pel the nofcrils to receive this acrid and
almofi: poifonous powder of Tobacco : ^
and, by repeating the application, we de-
flroy thofe nerves which would excite
ifneezing to difcharge it.

Snuff is thus received and retained in
the cavity of the noflrils : it tinctures

the

i '3 )

th^ fluid which the glands of the nofe na-r
turally difcharge ; and foaie of this will
make its unoppofed way, with the faliva
or proper liquor of the mouth, drawn in*
to the flomaeh.

Let us purfue its courfe ; and, knowing
its nature, from that, and from the Uruc-
Jure of the parts, judge of the effeds and
confequence.

The faliva affifts the juice of the {Iq-
mach in the digeftion of our food : it can-
jiot be encreafed without hurt; nor al-
tered v/ithout mifchief. The acrimony
of Snuft encreafes the quantity of this,
by flimulating the glands which difcharge
it; and alters its very nature by the
tincture which it gives, and v/hich muft
be, from the quality of the Plant, narcor
tic and acrimonious.

Narcotics, v^^e know, weaken the fto-
pach, deflroy the appetite, and prevent
digeftion ; but this is a narcotic, which.

( 14 1

the mixture of a peculiar acrimony, di-
llurbs the natural operation of the flo-
mach, even while by that other quality,
jt defiroys its force.

A habit of taking SnufF, muft there-
fore bring on diforders of the ftomach ;
and all the mlfchiefs that attend a bad
digeftion. But there is yet to be con-
fidered the cefophagus, the pafTage from
the mouth to the ftomach, thro' which
it muft go down : this is of a con-
ftrudion as delicate and as fenfible of
injuries even as as the membrane of the
noftrils; and there is this farther dreadful
confideration, that its injuries are beyond
the reach of art : it is too far removed
from the furface of the body to be capable
of relief from the furgeon's hand ; and
therefore hurts of it are often mortal.

The osfophagus has, like the ftomach,
a great number of nerves, very fenfible of
irritation j but, befide thcfe, its inner
coat is villous, and by the veffels opening

there^

( )

there, it receives a great deal from the
tindlure of theSnufF even before that tinc-
ture reaches the flomach.

This is the real fource of that fatisfac^
tion, which perfons accuftomed to SnufF,
receive from it; but 'tis little underftood>
and beft it fhould remain fo. It does not*
caufe them to fneeze, nor are they dif-
appointed ; for they do not expert, or
defire it ihould. Here is indeed a fhoft
and immediate caufe for its efFedtive qua-
lities : but there is alfo the mofl immi-
nent danger. This delicate and downy
fubflance of the lining of the cefophagus,
while it* receives the virtues of the faliva,
ftrongly impregnated with SnufF, may
alfo detain a portion of it on fome unlucky
cccafion ; and, from its irritation, when
lodged upon a part fo tender, and fo large-
ly fupplied with blood vefFels, there will
naturally arife an inflammation which no
hand can reach, with an extenfion of
the injured part, whofe progrefs nothing
can flop, and whofe end mufl be fatal.

( '6 )

We fee therefore, in the eye o£ reafoff^
what are to be expeded, as the effed-s of
forcing an acrimonious and narcotic pow-
der up the noHrils for a length of time :
but there are fadsflronger than all reafon-
ing, which will enforce the truth.

CHAP. III.

Of diforders which have bt^n
brought on by the immoderate
life of Snuff.

^~r^ H E £rft effea of Snuff will be on
JL the nerves of the noftrils, v/here it
is firfl received ; and theie, according to
their own tender nature, and the acrimo-
ny of the powder applied to them, wilt
be deflroyed. This effed is certain from a
continued ufe of Snuff; but.it will come
on fooner in fome, and later in others/
according to the peculiar ffru^ture of the
part, which is in no two human bodies
oa6tly alike.

With

( 17 )

With the deftrudtion of thefe nerves,
ivill perifh the fenfe of fmelling, which
depends on them ; and^ in fome degree
alfo, that peculiar fenfation which is of
a middle nature, as it were, between fmell
and tafte, by which we diflinguifh the
more delicate flavour of what we eat.

Thefe fenfcs may be loft without any
immediate danger to life ; but it is giv-
ing up what muft be allowed at leaft ve-
ry pleafing, to. a very unworthy caufe.

A country gentlemarJ, three or four
years lince, received a prefent of fome very
good Snuff. He had taken common Snuff
before, but not immoderately j the excel-
lence of this occafioned his increafing the
quantity. After about one year, I re-,
member that, walking with him in the
garden of J. Ware, Efqj at Weflburn
Green, a young lady in fport, took off a
flower of the Stinking St. John's-wort,
and defired him to obferve how fweet it
D was ;

was : {lie loft the jeft, for he had loft his
fmelling : he put it to his nofe, and an*
fwcred. That it was fweet, very fweet in-
deed.

The fenfe of what we call the flavour
of fruits, and of the more dehcate foody,
depends, Hke abfolute tafte, upon the
nerves which are diftributed over the fur-
face of the tongue ; and this laft is always
impaired, and the former utterly loft by
the immoderate ufe of Snuff.

This fenfe of the flavours of bodies is a
more delicate kind of tafte, and will be
therefore firft injured; efpecially as the
mixture of fmelling, which plainly is
concern'd, fhews the nerves of the no-
to have fome fhare in it.

In order to our enjoying thrs fenfe in
perfe(5tion, the nerves muft be kept in an
uninjured ftate; and the mouth ttiuft havc
a due, and only a due degree of morfture.
Infants have not that delicate fenfe of it

which

( 19 )

which men have, becaufe their mouths
are too moift; and the extremities of the
nerves do not lie fufficiently expofed j in
very old perfons this fenfation is lefs deli-
cate, becaufe the nerves are wafted. To-
bacco will do much more than the injuries
of both: it always tindiures the fluid of the
mouth, when taken in this manner ^ and
fometimes by accident, gets down in fub-
ftance. In this laft cafe it ad:s violently
on thofe tender and almoft naked nerves,
from which we enjoy the flavour of
the nicer foods, and by its acrimony
would prefently deftroy them j but a great
deal of wiiter is drawn immediately into
the mouth, by the eiFed of the fame acri-
mony on the glands, and the naufeoufnefs
of its tafte urges us to make violent efforts
to fpit it out-
Snuff therefore, which falls intire into
the mouth, is foon waflied off from the
furface of the tongue, and difcharged
tut not without having hrft injured very
I) 2 feverel}

{ 20 )

fcvercly the neryes of that part on which
it immediately fell.

On the other hand, the faliva, conti-
nually tindured by the Snuff, and thu3
fpread oyer the tongue, is fuffered with
lefs violence to Nature, and becomes
lodged there at all times. This works
flowly, but very pertainly, the fame effedt
which the Snuff in fubftance would have
done if it could have lain there : that is,
it deftroys entirely the exterior branches
of the nerves of the tongue by its acrir
mony : as a drop of oil of cloves, or of
Tobacco, for they adt alike in this re-
fpedt, will deflroy the nerve in an aching
tooth.

Slow Operations are generally fure. At
firfl:, when the habit of Snuff is but new,
the quantity that is taken is not great ^
and of that the far larger part is thrown
off by fneezing, or is foon after blown
out of the nofe, in confequence of its ir-
ritation; yet the liquors t>f the mouth

an4

( 21 )

iand nofe are a little tind:ured from it.
Its tafte, tho' in itfelf difguftful, is thus but
flight, the tongue bears it ; If not without
uneafinefs, yet without any great offence;
and being once accuftomed, it gradually
bears a little and a little more : by de-
grees alfo its own exquifite fenfation be-
gins to be p^ll'd; and in a length of time,
is fo far loft, that, altho' the tafte of
fweet and bitter, fait or fower, poignant
or ftrong, and of all other coarfer diftinc-
tions may remain, that delicate fenfation,
which may be called the tafte of flavours,
is loft altogether.

In Portugal, where the ufe of SnufF is
too common, they are fo much aware of
this, that the perfons employed in making
up their wines, are never permitted to
f take any : and it is very lately, that I put
the matter to a trial before many wit-
neffes here. Covering the eyes of four
perfons one after another at the fame
table, who took a great deal of SnufF ; we
found they were not, in tfee kaft, able to

diftin^

( ^^ )

diflinguiili the creams : not only they
could not tell the rafberry from the pine-
apple ; but even not either of thefe from
the coffee or chocolate : the coldnefs of
the ice was all they perceived in eith&r.
They appeared as furprifed as perfons who
had juft difcovered the lofs of fight in one
of their eyes, by accidentally fhutting the
other.

If this were all, a rcafonable perfon
would perhaps think it too much to give
for the indulgence of Snufi : but afTured-
ly it is not. Thofe who have fo totally
loft this delicate fenfation of flavours, can-
not but have impaired their tafte with re-
gard to other things : we do not perceive
imperfedions which come on flowly, but
we fhould therefore be more upon our
guard againft them ; and it would be
worth while for a man to confider in
time, whether he fhall chufe to get into
a habit of taking Snuft at the certain pric^
of two of the five fenfes ? Whether, for
the fake of that frivolous indulgence;^ h?

fliall

( 23 )

fhall give up for ever the fragrance of all
flowers, and the flavour and fine tafte of
fruits, foods, and wines ?

But, if there fhould be any who think,
when the account is fairly placed before
them, that the indulgence of Snuff is
worth this price, fuch are to be told, that
thefe are the leaft of many facrifices which
they are to make to that pradlice : the
phyfician and the furgeon muft follow in
the train of its attendants ; and, befide
giving up fome of the mofl pleafing fenfa-
tions of which the human frame is ca-
pable, they muft exped its worft imper-
fediions and difeafes.

The acrimony of SnufF is able to pro-
duce, in thofe parts with which it imme-
diately or accidentally comes in contad,
fwellings and excrefcences, which, in
fome kinds, require the fevereft operations
of the furgeon to extirpate them ; and in
others become fatal, becaufe they lie be-
yond his reach: and the tindure which

it

( 24 )

it gives to the juices of the moufh arid
throat, may pervert and impair the actions
of the flomaeh, to fueh a degree as ta
bring on many difeafes.

Let it not appear ftrange^- that SnufF,
which can efFedt all this mifchief, is not
found in every inftance to doit. In many
perlbfts it is the caufe of diforders, which
they perhaps do not attribute to it, and
of which their phylician himfelf may feek
fome other caufe : but if the number was
fmall of thofe who fufxer, in comparifon
of thofe who take SnufF, what wife per-
fon would yet engage in it ? if only five
in an hundred ruined their* conilitutions
by it, who fhall be able to fay, when he
enters on the cuflom, whether he (hall be
one of the ninety-five who efcape, or of
the five that perifli ?

But, in reality, the number of thofe
who fuffer, is much greater than is fup-
pofed 5 nay, of thofe v^ho fuffer very hea-
.vily. Some are not fenfible of the caufe

OF

( 25 )

or nature of thefe difordersj others do hot
attribute them to the SnufF; and many
continue to languilli in lilence, becaufe
knowing the fource of their eomplaints,
they can expedl neither relief nor pity.
Accidents will fometimes difclofe things,
very unexpectedly ; and I have reafon. to
fay this with regard to the numbers who

fuffer mifchiefs from Snuff, in one very
obvious instance :

A German once propofed curing po-
lypuffes, or fleihy excrefcences of the
noftrils without cutting and having
fucceeded in two or three inftances,
as foon as the cures were Ipoken of,
it was aflonifhing to hear how many
perfons applied to him with the fame
complaint. Snuff was the caufe almoft
univerfally. The man would have enrich-
ed himfelf; but he was not in effect, maf-
ter of his own fecret : he performed the
cure by a root, a large quantity of which
he had brought over with him 3 but
when that was exhaufted, he . was at a
E lofs

( 26 )

lofs for a fupply. He did not know the
name of the plant to which it belonged ;
and, tho' it appeared like that of fome of
our crowfoots, none that he could get
here, anfwered in the efFed:.

About eight years fince, there ufed to
come to a cofFee-houfe near the Exchange
an elderly gentleman, who could not
breathe but with his mouth open ; and
from whofe right noftril there hung the
end of a polypus, or flefhy tumour, the re-
mainder of which filled the cavity on that
fide. This prevented his breathing, thro'
that noftrilj and he could make very little
ufe of the other from a like caufe. No-
thing appeared externally on that fide,
but he was fenfible of the fame fvvelling
within. It is not eafy to conceive how
much this unfortunate perfon fuffered ^
yet to himfelf, the greateft diftrefs of all
Was, that he could no longer take Snuff,
to which he had been accuftomed.

Some time after I faw him fo perfedly

at

( 27 )

at his eafe, that he fcarce appeared to be
the fame perfon : a furgeon of eminence
had undertaken him after many had de-
clined it ; and by attacking, from within
his mouth, that which could not be got
at by the way of the noftrils, he had made
a perfect cure. The greateft advantage of
all was that his long difufe of SnufF, with
the fenfe of the mifchief it had done him,
prevented his returning to the cuftom.

A gentleman of fomewhat more than
the middle time of life, having been
early accuflomed to SnuiF, and being very
fond of the irritation it caufed, thought
himfelf unhappy, that, from the conftant
and long ufe of it, he felt lefs and lefs of
that effed. He applied for ftronger and
more acrimonious kinds ; and at length
met with a fort which gave him the high-
eft fatisfadion. Whether it wqtq from a
peculiar management of the Tobacco, or
by means of fome addition of other in-
gredients, is not known ; but the Snuff
was fo acrid, and that few befide himfelf
could bear it.

E 2 The

( 28 )

The pleafure he found in it was but
Ihort-lived; for after a little time, he
perceived two fwellings of a llefhy fub-
llance in one of his noftrils, and one in
the other : they grew fo quick, that, in
eight or ten days, one of them hung a
confiderable way out of his nofe, and the
others began to be vifible in the opening
of the Qther noftril,

The larger fwelling which occupied the
right noftril alone, having grovv^n out be^
yond the end of the nofe forward, be-
gan to fpread the other way, and forcing
itfelf back through the aperture of the
noftril into the mouth, and encreafing
there very faft, reduced him to a mife-
rable condition : he breathed and fwal^-

lowed with great difficulty, and could
fcarce fpeak intelligibly.

The fwellings were of a deep crimfon,
and very painful. His friends terrified him
with the notion of a cancer; but a furgeon

of

( 29 )

of eminence being fent for, he was foon
releafed from that fear; tho' not from the
real diforder, without great pain. The
fweliings had arifen only from an inflam-
mation raifed by the acrimony of the
Snuff : but there was no pollibility of re-
folving them, or any other way of freeing
him from them but by cutting them out.
This was performed very fuccefsfully ;
and the blood that followed the inftru-
ments, prevented any farther inflamma-
tion. The operation was of immediate
neceffity to life ; for that part of the lar-
ger polypus, which had extended itfelf
into the mouth, encreafed fq fafl:, that
the patient was in danger of fuffoca-
tion.

Another cafe I have feen lately of a po-
lypus, which had very bad confequences.
Though I am unwilling to attribute the
origin of this merely to Snuff, yet I am
moft certain that Snuff, which the pa-
tient continued to take as long as he was
jible for the pain, contributed greatly to

encreafe

( 3° )

cncreafe the complaint, and aggravate all
the fymptoms.

This unfortunate gentleman, after a
long and immoderate ufe of SnufF, per-
ceived that he breathed with difficulty-
through one of his noftrils : the com-
plaint gradually encreafed, 'till he per-
ceived a fwelling within, which was
hard, but without pain. It grew flow-
ly, 'till, in the end, it filled up that whole
noftril, and fwelled the nofe fo as to ob-
ftru6t the breathing at the other : he
found it neceffary then to apply for af-
fiftance. The fwelling was quite black
it adhered by a broad bafe, fo that it
was impofTible to attempt the getting it
away, either by the knife or ligature:
He had hitherto felt no great pain ; but»
while the people about him v/ere delibe-
rating what to do, he perceived an un-
conquerable itching in the lower part of
it. His principal furgeon, who was a
very flcilful one, cautioned him moft ear-
neftlv to avoid fcratching it j but in vain :

he

( 3' >

he could not forbear; and the confe-
quence was a difcharge of a thin fharp
humour, with dreadful pain, and all the
frightful fymptoms of an open cancer.
He tried the famous Hemlock, but with-
out fuccefs : it produced no good nor ill
effedt in him, and he was without hope
when I laft faw him.

Another infcance I remember to have
feen of a moft terrible ulcer in the nofe,
in a perfon who took a vaft quantity of
SnufF: but this, like the former, could
not, I think, be attributed altogether to
that cuftom ; though it appears very evi-
dent, that in both, the Snulf violently
encreafed, and perhaps in both, brought
on the terrible fymptoms, at leaft, before
their time.

The perfon was a lady of a fober and
virtuous life, and there was no caufe to
fufped the accidents which fometimes
bring on the worft ulcers in that part of
the face. She had been long accuftomed

to

( 3^ >

to SnufF, and took it in very great quan-
tity. After the ufe of about a quarter
of a pound of SnufF, which fhe perceived
to be particularly acrid ; fhe felt a ftrange
forenefs in the upper part of her left nof-
tril ; running, as £he exprelTed it, toward
the griftle of the nofe ; flie left off that
particular parcel of Snuff ; but continued
to take the ufual kind as much as ever.
No fwelling was perceived ; but, after a
little time came on a difcharge of a very
offenfive matter ; not in great quantity,
but of an intolerable fmell, and the more
fo to her, as flie was naturally a perfon
of great delicacy. The difcharge en-
creafed, and it foon became neceflary for
her to leave off Snuff. A furgeon was
employed, but to very little purpofe : the
lymptoms continued : the ulcer encreafed,
and, from time to time, pieces of the
bone came away.

Death, from another difeafe, put an
end to that mifery, which all the art of

phyfick

( 33 )

|5hyfick and flirgery feemed very little able
to relieve.

From this and a preceding cafe, in
both which, as well as in fome others
that have fallen within my knowledge^
the complaint firft appeared after taking
a kind of SnufF different from that to
which the perfon was accuftomed, tho'
fold under the fame name^ there feems
reafon to fufpedr, that ingredients of a
worfe nature than Tobacco itfelf, are
fometimes added, by bad perfons, to the
compofition of Snuff. Thofe who can-
not break themfelves of the habit of
taking it, ought therefore to be very
careful to buy it only of the moff up-
right and reputable dealers^

Befide thefe cafes, which vi^ere attend-
ed with very bad confequences, I remem-
ber to have heard the late excellent fur-
geon Mr. Freke fpeak of one which
came within his knowledge, and to which,
if I remember right, he was called in for
F affill^

( 34 )

afliftanGe, though too late : this was of a
polypus of the left noflril, the root of
which lay fo deep, that it could not be
got at, either by the knife or ligature ;
and, which a young operator, who had
read more than he had feen, had there-
fore pulled away with his forceps: the
patient bled to death. No art whatever
could reach the wounded veffel, or flop
the bleeding.

Whether or not polypuffes, which at-
tend SnufF- takers, are abfolutely caufed
by that cuftom : or whether the princi-
ples of the diforder were there before, and
SnufF only irritated the parts, and haft-
ened the mifchief, I fhall not pretend to
determine : but even fuppofing the lat-
ter only to be the cafe, the damage is
certainly more than the indulgence is
worth : for who is able to fay, that the
SnufF is not the abfolute caufe, or that he
has not the feeds of fuch a diforder which
SnufF will bring into ad:ion.

With

( 35 )

With refped; to cancers of the nofe,
they are as dreadful and as fatal as any
others. It is certain, that SnufF muft be
of all things in the world, the moft dan-
gerous, where there is a difpofition to-
ward them : for, in fuch cafes what we
are mod of all to attempt, is to keep the
parts quiet j and what we are moil to fear
Is, to irritate them. This is the voice of
reafon, and the univerfal rule learned from,
experience : and nothing can be con-
ceived £o irritating in fuch a cafe as
SnufF.

Many women have fchirrous tumours
in their breads, which never become can-
cerous ; and, in the fame manner, there
may be fmall and flight fchirruffes in the
noflrils, which, in the common courfe of
things, if left alone, would never come to
mifchief; but, as any violence offered to
fuch a breafl, will turn the painlefs f^'vell-
ing to a cancer, whofe progrefs nothing
^ut death can flop, fo the irritation of
F z Snuff

(36)

SnufF will bring the other fchirrus into
the fame dreadful ftate. It is evident
therefore that no man ihould venture
upon Snuff", who is nQ|: fure that he is not
fo far liable to a cancer; and no rpan can
be fure of that.

CHAP. IV,

Of diforders of the throat occa-i'
fioncd by Snuff.

TH E noflrils are the firfl: part witl^
which Snuff comes in contadl^ but
through thefe the paffage is open into the
hinder part of the mouth, and the throat,
or aefophagus ; and there not only reafon
declares, but experience alfo fhews it may-
do the moff terrible mifchief.

I remember, when I was very young),
to have feen near the town of Peterbo-
rough, a poor old woman, whpfe grand-
daughter fed her with broth by means of
a tobacco-pipe; by fucking at one end of

which

( 17 )

which while the other was plunged into
•the mefs, flie could with great difficulty,
and in the fpace of an hour or more, get
down as much as was fufficient for a
meal. The account flip gave of it was,
that her throat was fwelled up within i
j^nd that the beginning of the diforder
arofe from fwallowing fome Snuff, which
fhe had drawn over haftily up her xiof-
trils.

An inflance of a like kind there is re-
corded in the A^la Eruditorum : A per-
fon who took a great deal of Snuff, per-
ceived, after fome time, a diforder in hh
throat, which occafioned a difficulty of
fwallowing- No medicines reached the
paufe; and v^hen he thruft an inftrument
^j^WDj it ftuck at a certain place, and nei-
. ' ther art. ijor viplence could get it farther.
Jie became unable to fwallow folid foods,
^nd in the end even liquids : by this
ineans he gradually wafted, from a cor-
pulent man to a mere fkeleton, and at
. length died familhed, being able to fwal-

lovf

( 38 )

!ow nothing. He was opened by the
furgeons, and in his throat was found a
polypus juft like •thofe formed in the
noftrils, which filled up the whole paf-
fage of the sefophagus, and ran down
from the place of its origin to the length
of feveral inches. Thefe are diforders, the
caufes of which are latent ; but perhaps
they happen oftener than we imagine.

CHAP, V,

Of diforders of the ftomach oc^-
ca{ioned by Snuff.

FROM the aefophagus, the paffage
is open and immediate into the
ilomach : thither therefore the very pow-
der itfelf may accidentally be conveyed.
But that is not all j the liquid of the
mouth, which is fo eflentially neceffary
to digeftion, goes continually down into
the ftomach, in thofe perfons who take a
great deal of Snuff, tinctured highly with
itsnarcpti.c and acrimonious quahties.

Npw,

( 39 )

. Now, though the ftomach having beeri
accuftomed to this by degrees, and brought
ftep as it were by Ilep, to bear it, even
when very ftrongly faturated, does not
throw it off by a violent effort of vomiting,
as is always the cafe, if a quantity of it
falls by accident into a flomach not thus
habituated to it ; yet its effects will be
perceived.

There is nothing that requires fo deli-
cate a ftate both of the parts and juices
as digeftion : and, in this cafe, the inner
coat of the ftomach is injured by the
continual application of that acrimonious
fubftance ; and the juices which fhould
operate in digeftion, are terribly altered :
from mild they are rendered acrid, and
from dilTolvents, they have acquired a
degree of power of hardening what comes
in their way. Experiments fliew, that
an infufion of Tobacco leaves in water
has, in fome degree, the quality of that
infufion of oak bark, which is ufed by

tanners

(40)

tanners to harden animal rubftarice-
Siich an infufion made to a confiderable
jftrength, is of the colour of the fed watery,
which lies on bogs, and which alfo has, in
fome degree, the qualities of tan. If flcfh
be put into any of thefe liquors, inftead of
foftening> and by degrees diHoiving, as it
would do in common water, it grows
tough and hard* The bodies of perfons
who have unfortunately perifhed in bogs,

have, after length of time, been taken
up, not at all, foftor corrupted, but entire
and firmer by far than human flefh is in
its natural condition. All know the pow-
er of tan upon leather, v/hich is the hard-
ening of it to a great degree ; and an in-
fufion of Tobacco will have a parallel

Things will produce the natural efted:^
of their proper qualities in the human
body as well as out of it. The liquor of
the nofe and mouth are watery, and will
take the fort of tindlure from Tobacco
that water does in a common infufion ;

( 44 )

and the natural and continual heat of the
body gives it the greateft power that can
be given an in^hiion of this kind : it is like
that in a bed of tahners bark, by which I
have been fo happy to find that tind:ures
may be dravi^n from vegetable fubflances,
of a degree of flrength, not known before*

Such then is, in feme degree, the juice
of the mouth, when it goes into the fto-
mach, tin(5lured by tobacco. It is not of
a flrength indeed to harden animal fub-
fiances, to a degree Hke what has been
mentioned i but according to its flrength, it
will operate in the fame manner : and, as
the bufinefs of digeilion is to foften, and
reduce our food to a kind of pulp, what-
ever tends^ though but in a fmall degree,
to harden what Ihould be thus foftened,
ads diredly againfl digeflion and will,
according to its flrength, impede that ope-^
ration.

The firfl effed 6f indigeflion is wind 5
for this is naturally produced by food
G which

( 42 )

which Is not properly managed by the
powers* of the ftomach; and the very worft,
moft obftinate, and incurable flatulencies'
arife from Snuff on this principle. More
than half the dirfeafes that torment and
deflroy mankind, have their origin from
a bad digeftion ; therefore indulging
in the cuftom of Snuff, is laying 2I. volun-
tary foundation for the worfl difofders;
fince it vitiates and depraves that juice>
without v/hich good digeftion is mpof-
iible.

It has been obferved, in commendation
of Tobacco, that it reduces corpulence j
and will render the fatteft people lean.
This is, in fome degree true ; but it is on
the principle of fpoling the digeftion,
that it ads, in this cafe; and therefore to
mention this effed, in praife of the herb,
is highly erroneous : it never reduces
corpulence, otherwife than a bad ftate ©f
health, would reduce it, and leaves al*
ways worfe complaints^ in the place.--

I knew

( 43 )

I knew a gentleman of a good confli^
t-ution, and fond of exercife, but upoa
whom fat grew, notwithftanding all his
toils j he chewed tobacco, according to
the diredlions of a rafh perfon in whom
he confided; and he cerxainly grew thin,
and got rid of an almoft lethargic drowfi-
liefs, which had hung upon him a conli-
derable time: but the efi*e<5l did not flop
where he delired, his digeftion was quite
enfeebled ; his flefh continued to wafte ;
he became) fnbjed: to terrible bilious vo-
mitings ; and died, in fpite of all affiftance^
after having been reduced to a fkeleton.

In thofe perfons, who have llronger na^-
tural pov/ers, the effe.6t of Tobacco is
either not fo fatal, or at leaft not fo foon
but all the efFeds of indigellion follow.

A perfon applied to me in June laft,
fuppoling he had the gout in his flo-
mach : what had led him to think this,
was a continual bumino: there ; and a
G 3 ^^^snge

( 44 )

ftrange tendency to vomit frequently:
waked always witli a tafte of afhes in his
mouth ; and a little after came on an in?
tolerable bearf-hum ; after this he grew
fickifh, and, unlefs his chocolate was
brought immediately, vomited a thin,
yellow, and acrid liquor. There feemed
no reafon to accufe the gout of this nor
did there appear any thing in this pa-^
tient's conftitotioD, that lliould occafion
it. He had about four months before got
into a habit of taking Snuffy and, on
leaving it oiF at once, all thefe difagree-r
able fymptoms vapiOied.

Lefs things than thefe wilj make a per-
fon often uncomfortable himfelf; and
(what to a delicate mind, is perhaps yet
more painful,) difagreeable to others.

A cufliom of yawning gro\YS upon fome
people to a very unplenfing degree and
I have obferved none are fo extrcamly
fubjed to this as thofe who take Snuff.
The occafion of yawning is jrritation, and

( 45 )

its feat is in the a^fophagus ; whofe inner
coat being very lenfible, forces this me-
thod . of difcharging the irritating fub-
ftancej jufl: as the membranes of the nof-
trils bring on fneezing from the fame
caufe.

If there be a thing more difrefpeftful
to thofe among whom we live than yawn-
ing ; it is the coarfe and fhameful habit
of belching. This, though it mayarife
from other caufes, and therefore may af-
fect thofe who do not take Snuff, yet Is
moft frequent and moft unconquerable in
Snuft- takers ; and often arifes evidently
from that pra<flice. Wind is bred in the fto-
mach from indigeftion, and is thrown out,
in this way, by m^ans of irritation : this
powder of Tobacco is the caufe of both.
The liquor of the flomach tinctured with
if, is incapable of good digeflion, and
therefore wind is produced ; and the con-
fequence of the next pinch, as foon as the
falvia, impregnated v/ith it, can get into
|:he (lomach, is an irritation which throws

that

( 4^ ■)

that vnnd np. This is indeed a relief:,
but it is fuch a one as few would chufe.;
A perfon of delicacy would rather fufFer
the uneafmefs of the flatulency, than be
relieved by thefe rneans. It is certain,
that by leaving off the cuftorn of SnufF,
which is the caufe, both the difagreeable
complaint, and the coarfe natural means
pf relief will be avoided.

Thefe are the tvvo lefier evils, which
SnufF brings on in the ftomach,
the more full power, which it exerts, is
in continual iicknefs and vomiting. It is
but very lately, that an inRance of this
came within my knowledge. The pa-
tient, though a man naturally of a robuft
and corpulent habit was grown weak and
emaciated ; and was treading with hafty
ileps toward his grave. The phylician,
who had attended him, was fenfible, that
SnufF was the caufe but he had not
power enough to engage him to leave
it off. When I had the honour to be
confulted, he vomited always in a mornr-

( 47 )

ing, and after eating ; and, was fallen
into fuch an habitual coflivenefs, that he
almoft forgot Nature had any fuch dif-
charge as that which he had in a manner
loft.

Approaching death had more eloquence
than his dod:or : he left off Snuff entirely;
and, by taking manna diiTolved in water,
and mixed with oil of almonds, by a
ipoonful at a time. Nature refumed her
accuftomed courfe : the vomitings gra-
dually ceafed, and the ftomach recovered
fo much ftrength, as to perform its ufual
operations; if not as well entirely as be-
fore the injury, at leaft fufficiently for his
time of life.

If to thefe immediate elfeds of SnufF
upon the flomach, we add the natural
confequences which attend an impaired
digeftion, we fliall take into the ac-
count, in a manner, all chronic difeafes ;
and lay upon this idle cuftom, a charge
fo great, that it would appear as if we ex-
ceeded

( 48 )

teeded the bounds of reafon : but it if
well known to pbyficians, that the firfi
feeds of difeafes in general are laid in the
ftomach, and are to be attributed to faults
in the digeftion. To the weakening this
faculty, it is that Tobacco owes, as we
have obferved, its power of reducing cor-
pulency i for it has no immediate effect
to fuch purpole. Lixc »vears oat itfelf ;
and the very adlions of the body wafte it
continually. It is from our daily food
that daily wafte is fupplied but, unlefe
the ftomach have its proper power, that
food which fliould in part be aflimilated
to the nature of our bodies, and fupply
the wear, palTes off without doing us fuch
fervice. It is for this reafon, people in
hedtic cafes eat, yet wafte ; and, in all
other inftances, as well as this, it is in
vain we fwallow that food> which is ca-
pable of giving nourifhment, unlefs we
alfo have within ourfelves, that power
which (hould reduce it to a flats of af-
fording us its natural benefit.

That

( 49 )

TThat power refides in the firfl inftance
in the ftomach; and it is there capable
of being by degrees impair'd, and at length
utterly defliroyed by Snufl\ I have feen
many wafte away ; and fbme perifh abfo-
lutely, without any caufe, that the mofl:
exadt obfervation could difcover except
SnufF: and there appears great reafon to
believe that many perifh by it ; though
few are thought to do fo.

The miferable confequences of indulg-
ing in this cuftom are plain ; and happily
the remedy is as obvious : there needs no
medicine to combat the effeds of SnufF>
nor is any of pov^er to do it ; the fole and
certain cure is to leave off the cuftom :
this will take effed: at any time, and ufu-
ally even in the worft cafes ; at leaft fo
far as I have feen : and, if the parts
which have been corroded and deftroyed,
cannot be reflored, yet the ravage will be
prevented from extending farther ; and,
though fome delicate fenfations may be
loft, life will remain fecure.

H One

( 50 )

One thing there is yet farther to be oh^
ferved of Snuff, which would appear more
terrible than all, but that happily it is
not univerfal : this is the effedt it takes
upon the underftanding. In feme per-
fons, it evidently dulls the apprehenfion,
and by a long courfe, brings on a condi-
tion of abfolute ftupidity ; a torpor of
the faculties, and, as it were, a lethargy
of the mind.

What is the immediate feat, or fource
of genius, and imagination, or how the
foul is connected with the body, we are
not permitted to know; therefore we
cannot fay; why it is, that what are called
the rational powers, are impaired greatly
in fome, and lefs in others, by the effedt
of Snuff : or why fome, as is really the
cafe, lofe them totally, and fink into a
ffate of abfolute idiotifm, from it^ while
others feem to ffand altogether unhurt.
But thus much we are able to affirm, that
things which immediately affect the brain,

are

( 51 )

are capable of difturbing the operations
of the mmd ; and, in fome cafes, of ab-
folutely obflruding, or even irrecoverably
deflroying its faculties.

Curiofity might lead us to wifh for a
more pcrfedl knowledge of this important
matter; but it is enough for practical
ufes, that we know injuries of the brain
may afied: the underilanding. We
fee how very near the brain is to the
noftrils ; and how very intimate a connec-
tion there is between them, by that
amazing expanfion of nervous filaments
which lines thofe openings. We have feen
alfo, how eafily the nerves are irritated,
and how abfolutely they may be deftroy-
ed by Snuff: perhaps this laft effed:,
which we might naturally moft lament,
is the happieft event that can be wifhed,
by one who will continue the practice of
taking it. The fooner thefe nerves are
deftroyed ; the fooner the effed of this
powder upon the brain is intercepted and
prevented, and it may be, that by the lofs
H a of

( 52 )

of fmell, fuch perfons faye their ^nde^-
landings.

. Our very imperfed knowledge of thefe
things, prevents the tracing up the efFedt
from its origin to its lafl action, as we
can, in fuch as are the immediate ob-
jects of our fenfes : but we gather from
all this, if not the certain, at leafl the
probable caufe, why of a number of per-
fons, who take SnufF in the fame degree,
fome are more, fome lefs zfte6:cd in their
rational faculties ; and fome not at all.
Where the nerves of the noftrils are
abfolutely dcilroyed, that moil di-
rect courfe to the brain is obfl:ru6:ed,
and no harm can happen, at leaft that
way, to the underilanding from Snuff;
where they reiift its influence more in the
noftrils, the eifc(ft may in proportion, be
more fenfibic upon the brain. Indeed,
if weconfider how very eafjly thofe nerves
are capable of irritation how readily
they convey the effeds of that irritation
to the brain, how very fulceptibie that

part

( S3 )

part is of pungency, and how ill it gene-
rally endures it ; and add to this, the
extreme acrimony of Snuff, and its vaft
power to irritate, we fhali be led to won-
der, not that the brain, and confequently
the human reafon are fometimes affe(fled
by this practice; but that it does net hap-
|)en much oftener.

Let none objed, that Snuff has an
effect contrary to what is here confider-
edj that it affifts, inftead of impairing
the imagination ^and that thofe who write
and fpeak, find great affiilance from its
immediate efficacy. Though we allow the
truth of the remark, the argument is no-
jthing in their favour j but may, perhaps,
pQ greatly in reality againft them.

The immediate effedl of a pinch of
Snuff, in quickening the imagination,
is like that of a glafs of fpirituous li-
quor in giving chearfulnefs : it is a falfe
fire in both ; it is mofl perceived by thofe
who are lead accuftomed to the things j

' and

( 54 )

aiid ufe wears it off. Thofe who are ha^
bituated to Snuff,- feel no fuch effedc from
it ; and for the reft, all that deferves
confideratioii is, that we are fure from
this. Snuff can affedl the brain.

Happily the bad effedls of it upon the
underftanding, are not found univerfaily j
but thofe more immediate powers, by
which it corrodes and deftroys the nerves,

and the diforders it raifes in the human
frame, by mixing hurtfully and mifchiev-
oufly with thefaliva, will always take place
in thofe who continue the cuftom ; tho*
it may be in a greater degree in fome, and
lefs violent in others. The certainty of
the one of thefe mifchiefs, Ind the mofl:
reafonable dread of the other, we may
hope v/ill influence thofe who fee
thenifelves by their own fault, I had al-
mofl faid their own folly, in the way of
both.

I do not pretend to reafon them
out of the c adorn ; all I have attempted

( ss )

iS to lead them to think : it is for this
purpofe I have laid before them the pfe-
cedins: inftances of diforders that have
been brought on by it. Thefe would have
been much more numerous, I doubt not,
if I had been more converfant among the
lick; but they will appear fufficiently
abundant to have fallen under the obfer^
vatioD of one who does not pradice phy-
fic. It has always appeared to me, that
it ought to be the employment of one
perfoii to fearch the virtues of plants,
and their general ufe ; and of others, to
apply them in particular cafes. An at-
tention to the firft of thefe has withdrawn
me from the practice of a phyfician 5 and
thefe inftances have been of fome few
perfons, who were pleafed to dellre my
advice, from a better opinion of it than I
am afraid it deferved. A man, with much
greater talents than my moderate fhare,
would make but a very indifferent pradif-
ing, phyfician, without the great afSft-
ance, of experience*

If

( 1^ )

If the in fiances here recited, atanrt
and caution thofe, who, by the fame caf-
tom, run themfelves into like danp-ei%
the purpofe of this publication is anfvver-
ed : they will fee the importance of con-
trouling their inclination in this point y
and they may have the comfort to be'
alTured, that thofe mifchiefs, which have
arifen, or may arife from this caujfej tho*^^
no medicine can relieve them, will, in
a great degree, if not intirely, ceafe, on
leaving off the practice which oecaiioned
them.

While* I recommend this, I know it-
is difficult : the force of cuflom is next
to that of nature ^ but even nature, iri
fome inRances, may be conquered : and
when the greater can be done, there is no
impoflibility in the lefs.

Every one has feen the ineffedual at-
' tempt of throwing away a Snuff-box, and
begging afterwards of every body that has

one.

( 57 )

one; this therefore is not the way. An
abfolute and determined refolution in great
minds, will anfwer the purpofe : and others
fhould wean themfelves, as nurfes weai%
their children, by bittering the nipple.
Something ofFenlive mixed among the
SnufF is the fole method ; but this is not
fo eafy as might be thought : the difagree-
blenefs of the additional fubilance muft
be fuch as afjedts the tafte : for the fenfe
of fmelling is, in all perfons who have
long taken SnufF, if not intirely deflroy-
ed, at leaft fo far impaired, that the
woril: fcents will have little effed. The
coarfer kind of aloes, with which nurfes
give infants dilguft to the bread, feems
better calculated for this purpofe than
any thing ; and, as it may be mixed with
the SnufF in a confiderable quantity, with-
out any ill efFedt, it feems the befl: calcu-
lated for the purpofe. But even with this
help, thf cure mufl be more in the mind
than in the medicine : for the bittering a
man's own SnufF, will anfwer little pur-
pofe, unlefs he will determinately refrain
from other people's.

FINIS.